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Events from the year 2001 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents Events - 8 March - The wreckage of Donald Campbell's speedboat Bluebird K7 is raised from the bottom of Coniston Water in Cumbria, 34 years after Campbell was killed in an attempt to break the world water speed record.
- 15 March - Donald Campbell's body is recovered from Lake Coniston, 34 years after he died in an attempt to break the land water speed record.
- 17 March - Eden Project opens to the public near St Austell, Cornwall; conceived by Tim Smit with design by Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners.
- 18 March - Claire Marsh (aged 18) becomes the youngest woman in Britain to be convicted of rape after pinning down a woman who was raped by a pair of teenagers in west London. She is sentenced to seven years in prison, while her accomplices (aged 15 and 18) are jailed for five years.[8]
- 5 April - Perry Wacker, a Dutch lorry driver, is jailed for 14 years for the manslaughter of 58 Chinese illegal immigrants who were found suffocated in his lorry at Dover ferry port in June last year.[9]
- 15 April - Manchester United win the FA Premier League title for the third season in succession, and the seventh time in nine seasons.[10]
- 23 April
- 29 April - Census of population in the United Kingdom.
- 1 May - An anti-capitalist demonstration in London, part of worldwide protests, turns violent.[12]
- 4 May - The government relaxes its sanctions designed to tackle the foot and mouth crisis after more than two months.[13]
- 12 May - Liverpool win the FA Cup Final when two Michael Owen goals in the final minutes of the game give them a 2-1 win over Arsenal in the final at the Millennium Stadium.[14]
- 15 May - Medication prices fall as a result of a court ruling which puts an end to the drug industry's price-fixing policies.[15]
- 16 May -
- 1 June - Official opening of Cardiff Bay Barrage.[19]
- 7 June - General Election: Labour Party attains a second successive General Election landslide victory.[12] Among the new entrants to parliament is 34-year-old Tory David Cameron who retains the Witney seat in Oxfordshire for the party.[20] Among the retirements is Edward Heath, the former Conservative prime minister, who at 84 was the oldest member of the last parliament and also its longest serving member having first being elected to parliament in 1950.[21]
- 8 June - William Hague announces his resignation as Conservative Party leader after four years.
- 17 June - Cardinal Winning, head of the Roman Catholic church in Scotland, dies of a heart attack aged 76.[22]
- 22 June - Home Secretary David Blunkett announces that Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, convicted at the age of 11 of murdering toddler James Bulger on Merseyside, are to be released on life licence later this year after the Parole Board recommended their release after eight years in custody.[23]
- 25 June - A race riot breaks out in Burnley, with more than 200 white and Asian youths being involved in brawling, vandalism and arson.[24]
- 29 June - The government announces plans to build a 3million fountain in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales at Hyde Park, London.[25]
- July - MG Rover launches a new range of MG-badged performance variants of its Rover family cars.
- 2 July - Barry George is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of the television presenter Jill Dando, who was killed in Fulham, London, on 26 April 1999.[26]
- 7 July - Two people are stabbed in race riots in Bradford, West Yorkshire.[27]
- 9 July - First episode of television sitcom The Office shown on BBC Two.
- 12 July - The British transfer record in broken for the third time in eight months when Manchester United pay Italian club Lazio 28.1million for Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron.[28]
- 16 July - The Labour government suffers its first parliamentary defeat over the sacking of Gwyneth Dunwoody and Donald Anderson as chairs of select committees on transport and foreign affairs.[29]
- 18 July - Philip John Smith is sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to the murders of three women in Birmingham in November last year.[30]
- 19 July - Politician and novelist Jeffrey Archer is sentenced to four years in prison for perjury and perverting the course of justice.[2]
- 20 July - Rioting breaks out in Brixton, London, following the fatal shooting Derek Bennett, a 29-year-old black man, by armed police in the area. 27 people are arrested and three police officers are injured.[31]
- 29 July - A victim support group condemns a reported 11,000 payout by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to the parents of murdered Sarah Payne as "derisory".
- 7 August - The government takes an unprecedented step with the 27million nationalisation of a private hospital near Harley Street in London.[32]
- 10 August - former Conservative Party MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine are arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.[33]
- 16 August - Royal butler Paul Burrell charged with the theft of items belonging to Diana, Princess of Wales.[34]
- 31 August - Neil and Christine Hamilton are cleared in connection with the sexual assault allegations.
- 5 September - Peter Bray completes the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a kayak.[35]
- 7 September - One million children in over 3,000 schools participate in an experiment to discover if it is possible to create earthquakes by all jumping off chairs.[36]
- 10 September - The Bank of Scotland and the Halifax merge to form HBOS plc.
- 11 September
- September 11 terrorist attacks: by al-Qaeda upon the United States of America. 67 UK nationals perish in the attacks, the largest loss of life from any nation other than the United States where the attacks take place.
- One Canada Square, the UK's tallest building, and the London Stock Exchange are evacuated following the attacks in the United States.
- Prime Minister Anthony Blair cancels a speech he was due to give to the TUC, and pledges to "stand shoulder to shoulder" with the United States.
- 13 September
- 14 September - National memorial service held at St Paul's Cathedral for the victims of the 11 September terrorist attacks.
- 17 September - Gateshead Millennium Bridge opens to the public.[38]
- 21 September - Teenager Ross Parker murdered in racially motivated attack by Muslim Asian gang in Peterborough.[39]
- 6 October - The England national football team achieves automatic qualification for next summer's World Cup in Japan and South Korea with a 2-2 draw against Greece at Old Trafford, thanks to an injury time equaliser by captain David Beckham.[40]
- 7 October - The United States of America's Armed-forces invade Afghanistan. Submarines of the Royal Navy(of Britain) participate using Tomahawk cruise missiles.[41]
- 23 October - Provisional Irish Republican Army announces that it has begun to decommission its weapons.[42]
- 25 October - The British Crime Survey reveals that crime rates are at their lowest levels since 1981.
- 9 November - Debut of the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in London.[35]
- 12 November - Greek authorities hold 12 British plane-spotters on charges of spying.[43]
- 22 November - The Labour government's upturn in popularity continues as the latest MORI poll puts them 31 points ahead of the Conservatives on 56%.[4]
- December - The unsuccessful Nissan Primera P12 goes into production in NMUK
- 10 December
- 11 December - The Post Office announces that up to 30,000 postal workers could be made redundant over the next 18 months as part of a 1.2billion cost-cutting package.[46]
- 12 December - Roy Whiting is found guilty at Lewes Crown Court of the murder of Sarah Payne, who was found dead near Pulborough, West Sussex, in July last year. It is then revealed that Whiting already had a conviction for abducting and molesting an eight-year-old girl in 1995. The trial judge sentences Whiting, a 42-year-old former mechanic, to life imprisonment and says that it is a rare case in which he would recommend to the appropriate authorities that life should mean life. It is only the 24th time that such a recommendation has been made in British legal history.[2]
- 13 December - Lynette Lithgow, 51-year-old former BBC newsreader, is found murdered with her mother and brother at the family home in Trinidad.[47]
- 21 December - The Metropolitan Police storm a cargo ship in the English Channel fearing that it may contain terrorist material.[48]
- 22 December - British-born terrorist, Richard Reid, attempts to blow up American Airlines Flight 63 from Charles De Gaulle International Airport in Paris to Miami International Airport, using explosives hidden in his shoes.
Undated Publications Births Deaths - 11 January - Michael Williams, actor (born 1935)
- 30 January - Johnnie Johnson, pilot (born 1915)
- 23 February - Marcus Sieff, Baron Sieff of Brimpton, businessman (born 1913)
- 27 February - Stan Cullis, former footballer and football manager (born 1915)
- 10 March - Michael Woodruff, surgeon and scientist (born 1911)
- 31 March - David Rocastle, former footballer (born 1967)
- 11 April - Harry Secombe, entertainer (born 1921)
- 26 April - Bryon Butler, sports journalist (born 1934)
- 12 May - Simon Raven, novelist (born 1927)
- 30 June - Joe Fagan, former footballer, football coach and football manager (born 1921)
- 17 June - Thomas Winning, Archbishop of Glasgow, (born 1925)
- 28 June - Joan Sims, actress (born 1930)
- 5 August - Aaron Flahavan, footballer (born 1975)
- 6 August - Dorothy Tutin, actress (born 1930)
- 19 August - Les Sealey, football coach and former footballer (born 1957)
- 20 August - Fred Hoyle, astronomer (born 1915)
- 12 October - Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, politician (born 1907)
- 15 October - Jamie Cann, politician (born 1946)
- 5 November - Roy Boulting, film director and producer (born 1913)
- 14 November - Charlotte Coleman, actress (born 1968)
- 23 November - Mary Whitehouse, TV campaigner (born 1910)
- 29 November - George Harrison, musician and film producer (born 1943)
- 7 December - David Astor, newspaper publisher (born 1912)
- 16 December - Stuart Adamson, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter (born 1958)
- 26 December - Nigel Hawthorne, actor (born 1929)
References See also
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